Our California Trip Part 3: The Beach

One thing is for sure, my kids LOVE the beach!  They are having a blast.  The girls like to play in the shallow water, but especially love the sand.  They could play in the sand for hours!  Conner loves boogie boarding and wants to go allllllll day long.  He's not a strong enough swimmer to go by himself, but happily lets me tag along.  Yesterday we got to meet my friend, Colleen, and her kiddos, at the beach.  She's a momma friend from Phoenix that moved to California earlier this year.  We had a ton of fun catching up and letting the kiddos play.  It always does my heart good to get some time in with  a good friend!  Oh, and the other day we went down and saw the Harbor seals.  They were so cool and the kids really loved watching them.  Here are some photos from our days at the beach...

 

Fish face!

 

(My little hamster shoved a huge piece of hot dog in her cheek at our picnic :))

 

(Madi wanted to see if she could fit in the cooler :).  She thought it was hilarious!)

 

 

 

(this picture has a funny story....  Conner dug a hole and Madi inched closer and closer to help and then fell in!  We were all laughing so hard, it was funny!  Madi thought it was just the best thing ever!)

 

Our California Vacation Part 2: Meeting Tracy

On our way from Disney to Carlsbad, we stopped at the beach and met with Tracy and her amazing family.  Tracy has 5 boys and her youngest son, Kumaka, rocks spina bifida.  They are working on adopting a really sweet little girl, Sophie, and get to go meet her in just a few weeks!  Conner really loved Kumaka.  He told me, "Mom, he has spina bifida.  I asked him if he wanted to be my friend and he said Y-E-S.  I think he's pretty cool.".  The girls had fun playing with Tracy and her family as well.  It was such a blessing to get to finally meet Tracy and her family.  Here are some photos from our beach trip...

 

 

And on that note, do you have $5 extra sitting around your house?  Or even $2 to spare?  Some extra change sitting in a jar?  Could you forgo one Starbucks, or one "extra" little treat this week, to help out the Jensen family?  They have 14 days left until they meet their sweet Sophie, but have a goal of $5,500 to go before they can bring her home.  $5,500 may seem like a lot, but if we all just give a little, I know it will add up in a HUGE way!!!  Please check out some fundraisers they have going on and consider donating to their family today. 

 

http://fromamomofboys.blogspot.com/2013/09/fourteen-days.html

 

Our California Vacation Part 1: Disney and California Adventure

We have been on vacation in California, and we've been having a blast!!  I have so many photos to share, I figured I better post them in segments :).  We've had a nice, relaxing time, which we really needed.  Unfortunately, I was sick and had a tooth ache part of the time and things went a bit crazy with David's work while we were here.  David's been pretty stressed, but we are slowly working through it.  Despite it all, I know that we are still so beyond blessed, and that everything will work out just fine.  For that, I am so very thankful!  We are still having a fun time and are loving the memories we are making!

The kiddos loved Disneyland and California Adventure.  This was Ramya's first trip, and she was in Heaven!  She enjoyed many of the rides and also enjoyed chatting with people and showing off her wheelchair.  She also really loved seeing Minney Mouse and the other characters.  She's still talking about that part!  Madi doesn't remember our last trip to Disneyland, but she sure had a lot of fun this trip!  She went on more rides this time and especially loved the teacups and Dumbo.  Conner was big enough for all of the rides this year and was super excited about it.  His favorite ride was California Screaming, and he must have gone 10 times!  I even caught David smiling quite a bit, which was so nice.  I love his smile and I haven't seen enough of it lately.

Without further-ado, here are some photos from our trip!

 

(It's hard to see Ramya, but she's sitting in the seat between me and my dad with her head on my lap. Although she was hiding, she said she loved it!  You can really only see her elbow here.) 

 

This picture has a fun story.  We were walking and Madi saw Pluto.  She was SO excited.  Pluto, however, was rushing to get to the photo site for pictures with Goofy.  I told Madi Pluto wasn't allowed to stop, which she accepted, but was bummed about.  Pluto then grabbed Madi's wheelchair and took off with her!  After chasing them for a few minutes, he stopped here, with Goofy.  They let us snap a few pictures, and Madi couldn't stop talking about how Pluto had pushed her in her wheelchair.  We kept teasing her that she got kidnapped by Pluto.  It really made her day!

 

I put this cone hat on Ramya and it fell all the way down on her tiny head :).  She thought that was VERY funny!

 

I love how Conner loves wearing his 3E shirt.  He picked it first to bring to Disney, and wanted to wear it right away.  He sure is proud of his sisters!

 

In our family, there is always dancing ;)

 



 

 

 And on that note, I just saw a petition that Disney is planning to take away the guest assistance pass.  This is so sad, as there are many, many families that cannot enjoy Disney without them.  Please consider heading over and signing a petition to keep the passes going.  http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/disneyland-discontinues.fb31?source=s.fb&r_by=8807797